Fantastic news for Steve McQueen fans!

Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of The Essential Steve McQueen Collection for 7th June 2005. Hollywood’s real-life rebel and screen legend who defined cool like no other actor -- arrives on DVD through this essential collection which includes a newly remastered Two-Disc Special Edition DVD of Bullitt with three documentaries including the DVD debuts of The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing, a fascinating look at the art of film editing featuring award-winning directors Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Ridley Scott and Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool, a new documentary premiering June 1 on Turner Classic Movies with interviews from Neile Adams (McQueen’s first wife), Sir Richard Attenborough, Norman Jewison, Chad McQueen (his son), Peter Yates, Barbara Minty (McQueen’s widow) and more.

The five other films included in the Collection are The Getaway, Papillon and new-to-DVD titles The Cincinnati Kid, Never So Few, and Tom Horn. DVD special features include perceptive commentaries from Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, directors Norman Jewison and Peter Yates, archival footage and new and vintage documentaries. The seven-disc boxed set will be available for $68.92 SRP. The films will also be available individually for $19.97 SRP while the Bullitt: Two-Disc Special Edition will sell for $26.99 SRP.

The Films

Bullitt (1968) – In one of his most famous roles, Steve McQueen stars as tough-guy police detective Frank Bullitt, assigned for 48 hours to watch a witness before his trial. However, when the witness and another officer are shot, Bullitt decides to investigate the case on his own, much to the dismay of an ambitious Senator (Robert Vaughn) who wants to shut the investigation down, hindering Bullitt’s plan to bring the killers to justice. Robert Duvall and Jacqueline Bisset also star in the film which contains one of the most exciting car chases in film. Bullitt also won the 1969 Academy Award® for Best Editing.

DISC 1:
Commentary by Director Peter Yates
Theatrical Trailer

DISC 2:
Two Feature-Length Documentaries:
-The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing, narrated by Kathy Bates.
-Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool – From filmmaker Mimi Freedman, this all-new documentary uncovers the complex man behind the image by watching McQueen’s life and career through the eyes of the people who knew him best and extensive use of film and television clips

Vintage Featurette: Bullitt: Steve McQueen’s Commitment to Reality

The Cincinnati Kid (1965) – In the title role, Steve McQueen is an up-and-coming poker player in New Orleans who takes on a long-time master of the game. Not only is there a small fortune at stake, but also the status of being the top player. But the game is compromised when the trusted dealer is blackmailed into fixing the outcome. Directed by Norman Jewison (Moonstruck, The Hurricane), the film also stars Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, Ann-Margret and Tuesday Weld.

The Getaway (1972) – Steve McQueen plays a bank robber whose wife makes a deal with a Texas politician to have her husband released from prison in return for a percentage from their next big heist. But when the plan goes sour, the couple must flee to Mexico as fast as they can, with a variety of gun-wielding thugs on their trail. Ali MacGraw, Sally Struthers and Al Lettieri also star in this crime thriller directed by Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch).

Papillon (1973) – The autobiography of Henri Charriere, one of the few people ever to successfully escape from the notorious French penal colony of Devil’s Island, served as the basis for Papillon. Steve McQueen plays the pugnacious Charriere (known as “Papillon,” or “butterfly,” because of a prominent tattoo), who is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton), the film also stars Dustin Hoffman as a fellow convict.

Never So Few (1959) – Captain Tom Reynolds (Frank Sinatra) and his band of skilled O.S.S. operatives are in World War II Burma to train the Kachin natives in modern warfare. But jungle combat is more grueling than Reynolds imagined, and after Chinese rebels cross the border to loot and murder American soldiers, Reynolds abandons all notions of “military protocol” and seeks requital. McQueen co-stars alongside Charles Bronson and Peter Lawford.

Tom Horn (1980) – Tom Horn (McQueen), a renowned former army scout, is hired by Wyoming cattle ranchers to put a stop to violence on the range. In the process, Tom finds himself accused of murder. Linda Evans and Richard Farnsworth also star.

I hope The Cincinnati Kid has both endings available on the DVD. Turner Classic Movies has been showing a print which has the European extended ending which is a little happier than the American version. The original U.S. ending is much better and it was refreshing to see a downbeat ending in a "Hollywood" movie.

Moderator

I'm going to buy the boxset even though, some of them have been released beforehand because the boxset is still cheaper for me than to buy them separately. Since, both "Bullit" and "The Getaway" were released in 1997, I would think Warner has done some work on those transfers again with today's improved technology.

yes, great news!
i've been wanting to own Getaway for quite a while, so even if it hasn't gotten a decent remaster, hopefully the compression has been greatly improved.
and Cincinatti Kid will be great to see again too.
not sure about the rest.
i already own Bullitt and think it looks just fine. the extras sound nice, but i'm not usually into discs just for the extras.
who am i kidding, of course i will. for the doc alone.

something to look forward to definitely, but i was kind of hoping when i saw the thread title, that it was going to refer to Paramount releasing Love With The Proper Stranger.

Hmm. Great news, no doubt about that, but if the new SE of The Getaway is to be released in June, where the other Peckinpah films and the boxed set that is said has been delayed? I wouldn't have thought that Warner would have been working on The Getaway before The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett.

Great to see that The Cincinatti Kid is finally on its way.

It's a pity that we aren't getting a SE of Papillon. Even a decent interview with Dustin Hoffman would have been nice.

Scuttlebutt is that the Peckinpah box has been pushed back until February '06; maybe the Chat will clarify things.

Good to see all these releases, even Tom Horn which I find almost painful to watch.

So many films, so little time...Film Journal BlogLt. Col. Thursday: Beaufort; no preliminary nonsense with him, no ceremonial phrasing. Straight from the shoulder as I tell you, do you hear me? They're recalcitrant swine and they must feel it...

This looks like an interesting box. I haven't seen many McQueen movies, and the only one out of this box that I've seen is Papillon. I've been wanting to see Bullitt for some time, and looks like I'll finally get my chance.

Just because it's not an SE, doesn't mean there won't be some extras. Most of the other WB boxsets have single disc titles that contain commentaries or interviews, so I wouldn't count on it being barebones. I certainly think that Papillon is at least worthy of a commentary track, or a documentary on Devil's Island.

I'd have to agree with Eric there. Look at the wording of the press release :

"DVD special features include perceptive commentaries from Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Vaughn, directors Norman Jewison and Peter Yates, archival footage and new and vintage documentaries."

As those elements don't seem to be mentioned in the specs, it would seem that this press release is incomplete. Also, wasn't there a thread that mentioned they were going to supply a different score for THE GETAWAY (or something) ?
So fingers crossed.

Bad news if that's true about the delay on the Peckinpah set, though it'll make more sense if it's only his westerns in the box set. THE GETAWAY makes more sense in this set.

By the way, has anyone noticed that even Warner's security stickers come off easier than the other studios' ? sigh . . .

So many films, so little time...Film Journal BlogLt. Col. Thursday: Beaufort; no preliminary nonsense with him, no ceremonial phrasing. Straight from the shoulder as I tell you, do you hear me? They're recalcitrant swine and they must feel it...

Are there any plans for DVD releases of classic Sam Peckinpah films, specifically The Ballad of Cable Hogue?

(warnerbros) Yes. Look forward to a major Peckinpah promotion from us including CABLE HOGUE, RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY and PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID next year.

...so they they be a few months out Note, BTW, Warners has never used the words 'box set', though I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

So many films, so little time...Film Journal BlogLt. Col. Thursday: Beaufort; no preliminary nonsense with him, no ceremonial phrasing. Straight from the shoulder as I tell you, do you hear me? They're recalcitrant swine and they must feel it...

Moderator

There you go, those titles along with a Wild Bunch SE makes four. By the way, as much as I love "The Wild Bunch" and it's among my favorite films of all-time. I think "Ride the High Country" is Peckinpah's best film.

It does make more sense to leave it at Westerns (and already TWB and PG&BTK sound like they will make great SEs). With the McQueen box announcement, I can't now believe Warners would want to include The Getaway.

Go Warners...

So many films, so little time...Film Journal BlogLt. Col. Thursday: Beaufort; no preliminary nonsense with him, no ceremonial phrasing. Straight from the shoulder as I tell you, do you hear me? They're recalcitrant swine and they must feel it...

Definitely picking up Bullitt, especially with those great sounding documentaries on Disc Two. Man, WB sure knows what makes Special Editions special! Digital Bits selected them as their Studio of the Year, and there really was no contest. And it looks like it will be a repeat in 2005.

The cherry on a cake--already overloaded with icing--would be the unusual and rarely seen ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (1979) from the Arthur Miller adaptation of the Ibsen classic. Box office it was not but it was a "labor of love" for McQueen in his most daringly uncharacteristic performance. Warners owns the movie and maybe they could talk Barnes & Noble into subsidizing its production as a "bonus" disc for the box set. It's evidence that McQueen was always more than a movie star.